Bionic Commando Rearmed 2

Looking back, Bionic Commando Rearmed may have been a more
important game than most realize. It was one of the first blockbuster
hits on both the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network digital
distribution models, scoring critical praise unlike any other console
downloadable before it. It also arguably opened the floodgates for the
proliferation of retro-styled games and HD remakes: more and more
publishers are digging up their buried treasure and giving it a
spit-shine worthy of the HD era, and just as many are building new
experiences from old foundations.

It goes without saying
that the company that spawned hundreds of Mega Man games would return to
a good thing, so I'm a little surprised it's taken over two years for
Capcom to follow up the original retro re-do. Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
is not quite the talk of the town in the same way the groundbreaking
original (erm, original remake) was, but I've been looking forward to it
since it was announced at last year's Captivate event. I'm rarely one
to complain about getting more of the same, especially when it's as
distinguished and polished as BCR was.

Some will cry foul at
"Rad" Spencer's newfound ability to jump (gasp!), but it hardly appears
to be the game-changer than many feared. Capcom has even affirmed that
the game can be completed without ever taking a hop. I think I'll put
that claim to the test for some of this first hour.

00
- New Game. After the heroic first adventure of "Rad" Spencer, bionic
technology revolutionized infantry warfare. The world was at peace for a time, but things started going south when the country of Papagaya
threatened a missile attack, led by General Sabio, a brilliant engineer
who created a robotic army.

01 - The FSA (good guys) sent a
battalion led by Colonel Brubaker. The FSA soon lost contact with
Brubaker and his entire army unit. Whoever is narrating this (Super
Joe?) sent a team of five bionic soldiers to investigate.

02 - A
helicopter flies over the sea. The bionic soldiers inside make a few
wisecracks at each other and argue about the gravity of the mission.
First objective: fight your way to Brubaker's men, then fight alongside
them. Second objective: disarm Sabio's missiles. The bionic soldiers
drop out of the helicopter in pairs, except the last one: "Rad" Spencer.
"Damn rookies." His mustache is fierce and commanding, yet affable and welcoming.

04 -
Apparently I have "Bio-vision," which works like scanning in Metroid
Prime. I'm told to scan an intel station nearby. The game pauses and
screen turns green, with scannable items in red. This intel station
gives me the basics on the controls (movement with D-pad or control
stick). Scanning bosses will give me tips on their weak
points.

05 - Time to play around with the controls! X jumps.
Square shoots the revolver, which has infinite ammo and no limit on shots on-screen. Circle shoots the bionic
arm. Spencer's movements are similar to the
first game, but the controls are different. For instance, you have to press the jump
button to unhook from a surface instead of just holding forward through
the swing. Interesting change...

06 - Spencer's jump is very small, hardly enough to
really help with platforming. It is nice that I can climb on top of
barrels instead of having to swing through them, though. Pressing Up
enters doors. I enter "Real de Juego, Sabio's Preferidos Casino." There's
some kind of collectable puzzle piece in here. Got it. Probably should
have scanned it to see what it was.

07 - There are switches that I can trigger by hitting them with my arm. The bionic one. This switch opens a shutter ahead.

08
- Explosions in the background on the beach. Guess the other bionic
commandos have met the enemy? There are blue, solid barrels and red
explosive barrels. An enemy takes cover behind a blue one, and shoots
over the top. I can shoot my bionic arm forward (down and circle) to
stop the bullets.

09 - When latched onto a barrel, I can pull
myself toward it or pull it back to me, at which point I can walk around
with it and toss it. Now climbing up a series of outdoor speakers up a
dilapidated building.

10 - Shooting up some more bad guys...they
drop health when killed. I can climb up boxes and pull myself up ledges
with the jump. That's helpful.

11 - These blocks down here look
fragile...can I break them? Not with what I have now, apparently. A
truck pulls up from the background, and an enemy hops out, taking cover
behind a barrel. Nearby, I found a grenade launcher! Apparently it's an
Active Upgrade rather than a switchable weapon. With it equipped,
pressing triangle shoots a grenade from Spencer's shoulder-mounted
launcher.

12 - The grenade destroys the series of fragile blocks,
revealing a door inside. It's a pretty narrow indoor area. Oops!
Apparently this little ditch in the floor is electrified. I stay in it a
bit too long and die.

13 - Started not too far back from where I
was. Hmm, that enemy dropped a yellow bullet symbol. Apparently these
are ammo pickups. Maybe my other weapons have limited ammo? I don't
think that was the case in the first BCR, but I might be wrong.

14
- Found a fragile-looking wall. A scan says that it could be taken out
with a bazooka...guess I'll have to come back later to get whatever's in
there.

15 - Found a health regeneration upgrade. Apparently this
is a Passive Upgrade. I can equip one Active and one Passive upgrade at
a time. I come across a small trail of bad guys, and roll a barrel
through them all.

16 - There's an old generator here...I destroy
it, and that triggers a huge barge to drop into the water, forming a
bridge for me to cross.

17 - Still swinging, climbing, shooting...

18
- I swing up a trail of speakers, leading upwards. This seems to lead
the same way as a path below. Maybe one is the preferred path for
speed-runners?

19 - I use my grenade launcher to explode another
trail of fragile boxes. There's a mechanical lever in here. If I hang
onto it, Spencer's weight pulls it down and opens a shutter ahead.

20 - Heading to the right, the shutter closes behind me. Another one is ahead of me. I'm getting Mega Man vibe, here...

21
- There's a HUGE guy in the area ahead. "What do they put in your
cereals?" asks Spencer. "I don't eat cereal," he replies, "I eat muesli!" And the fight begins. Shooting him appears to do nothing. He
has a small minigun, I have to jump over or duck under his shots.

22
- If I get too close, he knifes me. I use the lampposts nearby to swing
into him, knocking him over. I unload some shots at him. Apparently my
rapid-fire is pretty fast, because he's already dead. "Welcome to
Papagaya Island" trophy earned.

23 - Instead of heading forward
to finish the stage, I backtrack a bit and explore the area before the
boss. There's a Yashichi in this area...some tricky swings lead me to
it. I don't think it does anything, just a collectable to find and grab.

24
- Found a fuse box. Apparently I'll need an electrical arm upgrade or
a certain weapon to use this. I'm at the end of the stage now. One of
the other bionic commandos radios in. Through the static, Spencer can
figure out that one of them is dead. The surviving bionic is terrified,
and apparently something is hunting them. Predator!?

25 - Stage
complete! Hagle Breaker found. Cycle weapons using L1 and R1. I get a
recording of my time and a summary of the stuff I collected, whether or
not I jumped, etc. Map screen, next stage is Fort Arturo. Let's try this
stage without jumping!

26 - This area appears to be some kind of
ferny area, outside the port I just came from. It transitions into a
more military base-looking area. I am greeted by some enemies and swing
to a higher vantage point. I have already jumped, instinctively. Damn
it.

27 - More shooting, swinging, jumping, rolling barrels at people...

28
- Ooh, a little robot enemy! It rolls explosives at me. Trying to avoid
them, I jump off the edge...and right into the water, where I sink.
Oops. I can't really tell how many lives I have left, the life counter
is inside the health bar. And it's very tiny.

29 - This time, I hang on the ledge above the robot, and drop grenades onto it from my launcher. Time to move forward.

30
- I head into a door, into a silent challenge room. I have to swing up
across a rising ceiling to get ahead. One of the parts of the ceiling
can't be grabbed onto, either.

31 - I head back outside...I'm pretty sure this is not far from where I went in, even though I traveled pretty far inside...?

32
- Found a new upgrade, "Death From Above." When falling, I can press
down and jump to pound the ground as I land. This destroys fragile
blocks and damages enemies. It also looks pretty badass, with Spencer
screaming on the way down.

33 - Ooh, I can slide down walls! Kind of like Mega Man X. That's neat.

34 - Still making my way through this industrial base...sliding under low ceilings by using barrels on the other side.

35
- Maybe I'm just used to the first game at this point, but the stage
design seems pretty easy so far. I remember having a very hard time
after the first stage in the first Rearmed.

36 - More shooting, sliding, jumping, swinging...

37
- Oh yeah, I forgot I got another weapon at the end of the first stage.
It appears to be a shotgun, and I have eight shots with it. Guess I
gotta keep getting ammo to keep it refilled. I destroy a robot ahead
with it and the robot drops ammo. Convenient.

40 - Map screen. Next stage
is The Mighty Jungle. Okay, this time I won't jump at all! As the name
suggests, it's a stage full of tree branches to swing through and some
waterfalls as well.

41 - Damn it, I hate having to swing over
barrels instead of just hopping over them. Angered, I grab the explosive
barrel and throw it at an enemy ahead on the bridge. The bridge was
destroyed! Too bad I was already swinging toward it...I'm dead.

42
- After I restart, I notice the bridge is still destroyed. That makes
things a bit tougher...I swing over the gap and climb up the side of a
waterfall ahead.

43 - There's a stack of barrels in my way
here...I can't pull the bottom one out, so I scatter them with a grenade
instead. Found a new Active Upgrade, the Uppercut. I equip it in lieu
of my grenade launcher. It is as it sounds, an uppercut with that hulking metal arm. It uses my
whole Ability Gauge, which slowly refills.

44 - I try
uppercutting a couple barrels ahead...and they barely budge. What's the
point when I can just grab it and toss it just as far?

45 - Hmm, there's a little electrical beartrap on the ground. Would be nice if I could just jump over it...

46
- Damn it, I'm jumping. The temptation is just too much for me.
Unfortunately, Spencer's tiny jump doesn't even make it over the trap,
and half of my life bar is taken away.

47 - Now that I've broken the seal, I'm just going go jump around as much as I want and explore this big waterfall area.

48
- There are plenty of paths leading through this waterfall, at varying
heights. Hmm, a Yashichi is in this area over here...I have to go to a
higher area, fall down, grab onto a branch, then swing toward it.
Unfortunately, I can't find the path backwards...whatever, let's just
keep going.

49 - Still climbing up this waterfall area. Killed a guy by falling down onto him with my Death From Above move. That felt cool.

50 - There are a series of shutters ahead...not sure what the point of some of them are, I can go around them by using other paths.

51
- Hmm, now I see. Some of the doors need to be approached from another
path. I'd have to go back outside this cave area and come in to get some
pickups.

52 - I've found some kind of sniper tower. As I enter
it, a reticle appears on-screen. I can move it around the screen and
pick off bad guys from far away. This feels kind of cheap...at least
there's a range limit to it.

53 - Now I'm heading through some
big red warehouse area. In the middle of the jungle. There appear to be
some sentry towers nearby, but nobody inside.

54 - Ack, fell into a huge chasm. I didn't see that there was no ground below. Time to regain the ground I lost.

55
- I swing up to a lever, and pull it down. It releases a bunch of logs,
which take out some buildings ahead. Their roofs line up perfectly to
make a bridge across the chasm. Didn't see that coming.

56 -
There's a small area I can sneak a grenade into from my launcher...it
breaks a chain of fragile blocks, but I'm too big to fit in the opening
anyway.

57 - Oh well, keep going. There's a boss ahead, some sort of refrigerator-looking robot. Spencer asks if it has a beer for him.

58
- Shooting it appears to do nothing. Same with the grenades. How do I
make it vulnerable? Before I can think of anything, it starts rolling
grenades and shooting three-shot bursts at me. I have to grab onto
lights above to avoid the attacks.

59 - I'm stumped. Let's try
scanning it..."Creative use of bionics may reveal some kind of weak
spot." I guess I should try latching onto it?

New
Tricks for the Old School: The original BCR stayed very faithful to the
NES classic, with only a few minor alterations to the core gameplay.
The sequel isn't afraid to throw in some fresh ideas and tweak things
around a bit. The jumps, wall-slides, passive and active abilities are
all welcome in my book.

Video: I was a big fan of the 2008
game's oversaturated colors and sidescrolling 3D objects, and BCR2
looks similar. I think there's more detail and and the colors are more subdued, however. I'm a big fan of the art style used in the character
portraits as well, though they're infrequently seen.

Audio: Again, the first game's chiptune-inspired musical style returns with new arrangements. I approve.

Gameplay:
Plenty of time is spent swinging around the environments, either taking
out enemy soldiers or maneuvering through hazards. Exploration is
encouraged, as weapon upgrades and other pickups are scattered about.
It's a pretty standard 2D shooter/platformer with a hook that makes it
feel special.

What I didn't like

You
got your Reboot in my Remake: In the game's intro, a few characters and
organizations introduced in the 3D Bionic Commando reboot for PS3 and
360 are seen. The narrative in Rearmed 2 is in line with its prequel's
humorous tone, but I'm of the mind that Capcom should stay as far away
from the gritty "new" Bionic Commando as possible.

There's
something strange about this place...: I can't put my bionic finger on
it, but something about the level design feels less exciting than the
first Rearmed. Maybe it's all the shutters that need to be opened? It's
also possible that the stages are fine, but I'm just not as impressed as
the first time around. I don't know. Something about the game just
seems a little off right now...

Other thoughts

Challenge:
Playing on Normal mode, I found that three or four hits from enemies
was enough to kill Spencer, but each enemy drops a health pickup when killed. Similar to the
original, BCR2's challenge manifests in swinging safely and avoiding
pits and environmental hazards. Bosses provide some mild mental
stimulation as well as a test of battle prowess.

Controls:
The controls have been revamped. Those who are used to the original
XBLA/PSN title will have a brief adjusting period to the new scheme.
However, I think the setup in BCR2 makes more sense and will probably be
easier to learn for those who have no prior experience with the series.

Would
I keep jumping? I don't know that I have much of a choice. It just
comes so naturally and feels like a definite improvement over the first
game, I instinctively kept doing it. Still, it's nice to know there's a
challenge available for those who prefer lead feet.

Would I
keep playing? Yes. Bionic Commando Rearmed 2's welcome tweaks don't
quite excuse it from merely being more of the same, but it's not like
Capcom is beating a dead horse here. Not yet, anyway.